Brady Punch
by RockyWench
Summary: Nick's friend comes for an unexpected visit. Will this spell trouble for our favorite CSI?
1. Chapter 1

Prologue:

"CSI Stokes, you have a visitor in the lobby, CSI Stokes to the lobby please". Nick was just finishing up an arson case and was almost done packing the evidence away when the page came.

"Greg, you want to finish packing this up so I can go see who's here?" Nick asked as he hastily taped the box shut he was working on.

"Sure, take your time the longer it takes to file all of this, the less the chances are of picking up a last minute case!" Greg half joked. The team had been unusually busy causing several double and triple shifts in the past week or two.

Nick patted Greg on the back as he left the layout room to head towards the lobby. He had to agree with Greg, this last case had caused his third triple shift in a little over a week. He was dog tired and just wanted to go home and pass out for a few days.

Nick rounded the last corner and gave Judy an inquiring glance as he passed the reception desk. Judy nodded towards a man standing across the lobby admiring the pictures the Sheriff had put up depicting the different equipment that the lab worked with.

Nick made it across the span of the lobby in just a few long strides, stopping a couple of feet behind the man. "May I help you sir?" Nick questioned.

As the man turned around Nick was stunned to see it was his former roommate from college. "Nick Stokes! You haven't changed a bit man!" Much to Nicks surprise he was deftly pulled into a brotherly hug.

"Brady Magnus, what brings you to Vegas?" Nick stated with a note of shock as the taller man let him go. Shock because the reason he was a former roommate was because of a misunderstanding between him and Brady over a girl, to which Brady had made no bones about wanting nothing more than Nicks head on a stick for.

"Aw Nick, you don't think I would still be upset over her after all these years do you?" Brady laughed at the uncertain look on Nick's face.

"Well Brady, you did say that you wanted to kill me. And if my memory serves me correctly, you tried to run me down with your car." Nick half chuckled at the memory.

Chapter 1

Nick had introduced Brady to the team and they were now sitting at a diner having coffee and talking about old times. Nick had a feeling he was missing something though. Brady had been serious about wanting Nick dead back in college. Could a person get over being that angry with another person? In his line of work it usually didn't happen. _I'm just being paranoid. _Nick thought to himself, but he wasn't sure, so he decided to just ask him. They were in a public place after all, it's not like Brady would just up and kill him with all of these witnesses, right?

"Brady, don't get me wrong man, this is great reminiscing about college and all, but what happened that you decided that it was okay for me to keep breathing?" Nick gave Brady an unsure smile.

"Well Nick, my friend, I realized that we were both young and full of ourselves a bit, we were on the football team after all! And I realized that you might have been right, she might have played us both against each other. Besides, friends should never let a woman come between them, am I right?" Brady beamed and slapped Nick on the shoulder affectionately.

"You make a good argument for forgiveness Brady, I'm glad you aren't still angry with me. I really didn't know she was dating you." Nick swatted Brady back, not as affectionately as he saw something pass over Brady's face that he couldn't quite place.

"Nick, I need to go find a hotel room. But I want to meet up with you very soon for dinner, my treat. You pick the time and place and I'll meet you there." Brady offered as he threw a ten dollar bill out to pay for their coffees.

Nick wanted to invite Brady over to his place, but with all of the long shifts his place was a complete mess and he really did need to get some serious amounts of sleep before his next shift. So instead Nick suggested a few places to Brady that were nice but not outrageously priced. They exchanged cell numbers and parted ways for the night with every intention of spending more time together while Brady was in town.

When Nick got home he realized that he shouldn't have had so much coffee, as he was pretty well awake by this time. After picking up for about an hour he realized that he was going to need some help getting to sleep. After rummaging around his medicine cabinet for about ten minutes he finally found some all natural sleep aid and took one before heading to the kitchen to make some chamomile tea that he kept on hand for just such an occasion. Half an hour later he was finally in bed falling asleep.

"_Hi, my name is Vanni, I think we have Lit class together don't we?" Nick turned to see what to his 19 year old mind was a true Greek Goddess._

"_Uh, yeah Lit gasp, um I mean Lit class, right1" Nick blushed at his own blunder. There before him stood the perfect woman. Long black hair that touched the small of her back and shone like it was made of glass, piercing deep brown eyes and lips that made a perfect pout. Not too skinny and hot too thick either, the picture of perfection to Nick._

"_And you are?" She questioned with a slight giggle that made Nick smile._

"_I am, what? Oh, I'm Nick, Nick Stokes, pleased to meet you ma'am." Nick drawled as he offered his hand in greeting._

_Vanni blushed slightly as she offered her own hand. "I was wondering Nick Stokes. Would you be interested in tutoring me in Lit. I seem to be having a problem understanding the love story that we are covering." _

_Nick wasn't naive so he had no trouble picking up on her cyphered message. "Oh, I think I could help you with that little lady." Nick let his Texas accent flow like cream as he patted the open seat on the bench next to him._

_Nick spent the following weeks running himself ragged between football practice, classes, his part time job at the convenience store and spending as much time as he could with Vanni. His teammates were constantly trying to pry information out of him about his lady friend, but he dodged them for almost two months before he finally told Brady about his girl._

_Brady was floored, to say the least. "Nick, does Vanni have a twin sister by any chance?" Brady hoped Nick said yes. Because if he didn't, his best friend was sitting here gloating about being with _his _girlfriend Vanja._

"_Nope, she's an only child so I guess you're stuck with Vanja buddy!" Nick laughed, figuring that his girl was so sweet that his friend was a bit jealous. But what happened next caught Nick completely off guard._

_In one swift motion, Brady stood up from the bench he and Nick were sitting on and threw Nick into the lockers causing several rows to fall like dominoes. It took three of their teammates to pull Brady off of Nick and get him out of the locker room. When a couple of other teammates went to check on Nick, they found him dazed and a large gash on the back of his head where Nick's head caught a locker vent. _

_It took until Nick was leaving the school infirmary an hour later to realize that what he had told Brady was very similar to what Brady had told him about Vanja. They couldn't be the same person could they? Nick pondered as he walked back to his dorm. They couldn't be, his Vanni was too sweet to be using not one but both of them. And Brady's girl Vanja sounded just as sweet. Nick decided to get a picture he had of Vanni and show it to Brady so he could see that they weren't the same person._

_Nick felt luck that Brady wasn't in their dorm room when he got back. Nick took out a picture of Vanni and himself that they had taken in one of the photo booths on campus. It was cheesy, but it made Vanni laugh, and Nick couldn't resist her laugh._

_Half an hour later Brady walked into their room and saw Nick sitting on his bed. Brady walked past Nick to his own bed and pulled out a shoebox producing a picture to show Nick. As they looked at each other the realized they had the same idea. So they swapped pictures. Nick stared at the picture stunned. Brady used the opportunity to once again lash out at Nick. They scuffled for several minutes in their room before it spilled out into the hallway. It didn't take long for the fight to be broken up and both of them escorted to the Deans office._

_After shaking hands in the Deans office, Nick meaning every word of his apology, Brady on the other hand just wanting to keep out of trouble, the two were allowed to return to their dorm pending one or both being re-housed. Nick was taking the long way back, hoping to avoid any more outbursts from Brady. Truth be told, he had almost a foot on Nick and about twenty five pounds. Not that he needed it to do real damage to Nick if he wanted to. Brady also trained as an amateur boxer._

_Nick was lost in thought about the situation when out of nowhere a pair of headlights blinded him. Nick heard the squealing of tires a fraction of a second later. Reacting on instinct, Nick dove for the bushes to his left. The car clipped his foot causing him to roll down the small embankment. Nick tentatively worked his way back up to the top being careful not to jar his broken foot any more than he had to. When he reached the top he was horrified to see the reverse lights on the vehicle and hear, yet again the squealing of tires as the driver tried to finish him off._

_Nick rolled back down the embankment again, not giving much thought to his foot on the return trip. This time Nick lay there completely still for nearly an hour before he climbed back up the embankment, cautiously checking for the car before he came completely out of hiding. To his relief and disappointment, the car was gone, but with taking the long way back to the dorm, Nick had over half a mile to walk to reach the dorm, further if he went back to the infirmary. _

"_That's just my luck." He thought to himself, "I pick a nice quiet weeknight to get myself run over." It took two hours and no traffic to make it the half mile to the dorm. Luckily for Nick, there were still other students up in the commons. Lucky for two reasons, the first was that he didn't have to walk any further to get help for his broken foot. The second reason was when Brady showed up shortly after Nick. Brady was so enraged that he hadn't killed Nick when he ran him down that it took six students to hold Brady back while some others took Nick out of the room and hid him in one of their rooms._

_By the time the police arrived however, Brady had gotten free and found the room they had stashed Nick in. Brady had just broken the door down and had Nick by the throat when the police reached the melee. It took both of them to remove Brady's hands form Nick's neck just as Nick was blacking out. _

Nick startles awake from the dream and it takes him a few seconds to realize where he is. Rubbing his hands over his face to get rid of the last remnants of his dream Nick gets up and pads into the bathroom. Looking at his reflection he considers whether Brady could have really gotten over that rage. Nick was angry too over it. Vanni/Vanja had played them both. And apparently they weren't the first friends she had played her little game on.

Nick recalled testifying before the board about what had happened and hearing six other students tell very similar stories. Vanni it turned out was really Emily Nester and she had been kicked out of two other colleges for the same thing. Nick refused to press charges against Brady after finding this out, but the school had no choice but to expel Brady for the assault. Until last night Nick hadn't heard from Brady since then.

"Why did you really come Brady?" Nick asked himself.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Nick was mumbling under his breath as he entered the locker room. "Dare I ask?" Sarah inquired as Nick walked past her still grumbling.

"I wouldn't it I was you." Nick snapped at her. Sighing Nick sat next to Sarah on the bench. "I'm sorry. I'm just tired is all; I had a little trouble sleeping." He laid a crooked grin on Sarah that made her smile in return.

"I feel your pain my friend. All these doubles and triples are really messing up my sleep cycle too." Sarah agreed.

"If only." Nick half whispered as he left the locker room. On his way to the break room to get his assignment Nick kept his head down so as to not be noticed. He almost made it too.

"Nick, got a minute?" D. B. inquired as he nodded for Nick to come into his office. Nick reluctantly followed. "Take a load off." D. B. waved at the chairs in front of his desk. "You know I'm not one to pry, but you look like you've got something heavy weighing on you. Is there anything I can help with?"

Nick cautiously took the offered seat as D. B. spoke. D. B. was nothing like Grissom in that he did notice when something was off with one of the team. Nick was still trying to get used to that out of his supervisor. It did make it more difficult to give his pat answer, but he could try.

"I'm fine." Nick simply stated. This earned him an inquisitive eyebrow from D. B. That action he didn't miss getting from Grissom, and liked even less from D. B. only because he always felt obliged to elaborate. Nick left out a deep sigh. "Remember that friend that I introduced around the other night?" D. B. nodded. "Well, we had some bad blood that broke our friendship up back in college, that's why I hadn't had any contact with him in years." Nick was hoping that this would be a good enough explanation. He was mistaken.

"How bad was the blood?" D. B. questioned.

Nick stared at his hands, playing with his ring contemplating how much of their history he should tall. "It was really bad, like attempted murder bad." Nick figured that if their reunion really was a sham on Brady's part, someone should know the entire story.

"Wow that is some serious bad blood." D. B. simply stated true to form. "So, do you believe that he's gotten over it?"

"That's just it, I don't know. He seems genuine, but He was really pissed at the time. Not that I blame him, it's just he was mad at the wrong person. It was Emily or whatever she calls herself now that he should have been angry with, not me!" Nick didn't realize he was beginning to raise his voice. "She screwed with both of our heads and it's me that he tries to kill over it!" Nick jumped out of his chair so suddenly it almost fell over and begins pacing back and forth. "Brady and I were almost like brothers until she came into the picture. She screwed with his head so bad that he tried to choke the life out of me! Hell I'm still angry about it, why wouldn't he be, huh?" Nick didn't really expect an answer; he was more talking to himself by this time than to D. B.

"Well Nick, maybe he got some counseling, or maybe this is a farce. You won't know until you talk to him about it. Hey, listen, we're pretty light on cases for a change. Why don't you call this Brady guy and take him up on the offer to buy you dinner, go have a big stake or something. If we need the help I can always call you. Talk to him though; find out for your own piece of mind what he really wants." D. B. gave Nick a sly grin.

"You know what? I think I will, I can make it an early night after that and maybe get some real sleep tonight. Thanks Russell." With that Nick headed back to the locker room before heading out.

"Hello Brady? This is Nick. That offer still stand? Yeah. Good. How about you meet me at the Palermo in half an hour? Oh yeah? Steak sounds great. No, can't say that I do. Ok, text the address to me and I'll meet you there. See you then." Nick was feeling better about rekindling his friendship with Brady. Maybe Russell had been right, maybe Brady had gotten counseling or anger management or something.

Nick pulled over when he got the test from Brady so he could put the address into his GPS then he was off to meet Brady and try a restaurant he'd never heard of that was having an all you can eat stake night. "It must be one of Vegas' very well kept secrets." Nick thought to himself. But Brady always did have a knack for finding secret deals back in college. Brady knew all the bars that gave you free whiskey shots for A's, bowling alleys that had free bowling at three in the morning and just about anything else that they could think of. So an all you can eat stake place was to be expected from Brady.

Half an hour later Nick was second guessing himself as he found himself on a desolate road with no street lights and no sign of any business. "In five hundred feet you will reach your destination, your destination is on the left." His GPS announced. "Ok, so my destination is a shack in the middle of nowhere?" Nick asked no one. Nick pulled over as his GPS instructed and looked at the text that Brady had sent him to make sure he put it in right. While he was comparing the addresses he didn't see the dark figure exit the shed and span the distance to Nick's truck in just a few long strides. The sudden light from the dome light blinded Nick for a brief second, just long enough for the dark figure to yank Nick from the driver's seat and slam him against the back door of the Jeep, smashing the window on the third try.

Nick woke up with a throbbing headache in a pitch black room that smelled like a few dozen rodents had lived and died there. Nick tried to sit up, but much to his regret, he found himself unable to move. He tugged gently at the restraints that held his wrists and ankles at first. Then he had a flash of the box and panicked for a few minutes, thrashing about to no avail other than tearing up the skin on his wrists from the bindings. Nick stopped struggling when he heard something shuffling in the corner of the room. Hoping it wasn't one of the rodents he smelled Nick called out to the unknown observer. "Hello, who's there?" Nick demanded.

"Feel like you've been kept in the dark Nick?" Brady hissed. "It doesn't feel too good now does it?"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Hey Greg, how's that double of yours coming?" Russell asked flagging Greg into his office.

"Man, that scene was a mess! I'm going to be sifting through evidence all night. Would any of the girls be available to lend me a hand?" Greg cajoled.

"You do know that if Sarah or Fin hears you refer to them as girls you will be severely injured right? And no, they are all running solo's themselves. As am I. I didn't want to, but I'm going to have to call Nick back in. I'll have him find you when he gets here." Russell dismissed Greg and dialed Nick's number.

After three tries Russell grew a little concerned. Walking over to AV Russell asked Archie to try to locate Nick's phone. "Sorry, it's turned off. The best I can do is to give you his last known." Archie pulled up the information on the map on the screen. "That's weird. The last place his phone was picked up is in the middle of nowhere, about fifteen miles outside of town."

"Thanks Archie, can you send the information to my GPS?" Russell left AV without waiting for an answer. Spotting Brass as he left AV Russell pulled Jim aside and told him about Nick's confession about Brady and the fact that Nick had literally fallen off the radar.

"I don't like this one bit. Who's available to come with us?" Brass asked as he called Vartan's cell phone. ""Lou, Brass, we have a problem. Meet me out front."

As Brass hung up D. B. was finishing up a group text informing the team that there was a family meeting out front immediately, no exceptions. "Let's go." Russell firmly stated leading the way out front.

"What do you mean Nick is missing?" Sarah demanded hearing the news. Greg put a supportive hand on her shoulder in an attempt to get her to calm down some.

Russell briefed the two detectives and the four CSI's on the situation between Nick and Brady Magnus as they headed for their cars. Brass, having already gotten most of the information from Russell took this time to call Archie. He instructed Archie to send the GPS coordinates as well as a picture of Brady Magnus to each of their phones. Further instructing the AV tech to dig up any information he could on the guy. Then the seven of them piled into two different vehicles and headed out to the suspected location.

"Brady, what are you doing man? This is crazy! Emily is the one who you should be pissed at, not me. I was played just like you were!" Nick tried to reason with his former friend. To Nicks shock this only earned him a kick in the ribs causing him to gasp for air and his eyes to water from the sudden and unexpected pain.

"How could you blame her Nick? You are the one who came on to her! You are the one who tried to steal my woman! You are the one who thought you were better than me! It was you Nick! You!" With each declaration Brady kicked and stomped on Nick. His knee, foot, elbow and head exploded in pain from the impacts. Brady was circling Nick and with already having been knocked out at the car, Nick was getting dizzy and nauseous from the onslaught. The next blow was a boot coming down on Nick's stomach. This enhanced the nausea tenfold and Nick quickly turned his head to the side barley in time to keep from vomiting on himself.

"Brady?" Nick croaked out after he finished. "Why are you doing this? She's not even a part of our lives anymore man." Nick tried to reason.

"Speak for yourself Stokes. What do you think I did when you got me kicked out of school? Huh? I waited for her, we ran off together. We had kids together. Don't you get it Nick? You didn't break us up like you were trying to. We've been together all this time. She told me all about how you tried to steal her away. And when you couldn't have her, you raped her! How could you do that to me? I thought you were my friend and you tried to destroy my life and the love of my life!" Brady began kicking and stomping Nick again.

Barely conscious at this point, Nick became more aware when he heard Brady accuse him of rape. "What the fuck are you talking about Magnus? I never raped anyone in my life! We had sex, yeah, and at the time I thought we were making love, but I never raped her! If she said I did she lied, but that's all she's ever done isn't it? Emily is a liar! Face it!" Nicks spirit of self-preservation was screaming at him to shut up, but by this time Nick was too angry at Emily for turning his friend on him that he would have probably killed her had she been there.

Nick should have listened to his self-preservation mode. Brady lost what little control he may have had at Nick's insults against Emily. "Vanja! Vanja! Vanja! Vanja!" Brady was screaming as he choked Nick unconscious, only stopping when he had spent all of his energy and collapsed onto the floor in a daze.

"We should be coming up on the location any second." Brass announced via the radio. "We don't know what we'll find so Vartan and I go in first. Are you all clear on that?"

Reluctantly the CSI's agreed to Brass' demand just as they pulled up to the place indicated by the GPS. Seeing only Nick's Jeep and a shack that looked about to fall down drew mixed conclusions from the CSI's. Was he out here alone for some peace and quiet? Not likely, but not impossible. Or was he brought here against his will? If so, what would they find in the run down shack? Letting Brass and Vartan check the shack suddenly seemed like a good idea.

After finding only one door ad no windows in the shack, Brass and Vartan kicked the door down and were shocked to see two bodies lying on the floor. Vartan went to the stranger in the corner and pulled the night vision goggles he was wearing off of his head; the man was alive but appeared to be catatonic. Brass went to Nick thankful to find a pulse; Brass immediately called for a medevac chopper on the radio and called for the CSI's to bring lights.

The five CSI's entered the shack tentatively, not sure what they would find. The responses were mixed. Sara simply whispered Nick's name, Greg stood speechless, Morgan looked on horrified as she set up work lights, D. B. immediately asked if Nick was alive and received an affirmative nod from Brass. Fin went on auto pilot and began documenting the blood spatter. The others gradually began processing as best they could while they waited for the chopper to arrive, all working silently. Brass and Vartan handcuffed Brady Magnus and put him in the back of Brass' Charger. Figuring this was the safest place for him, for the time being since he was still catatonic it was useless at this point to try to question him.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The wait was still long, even though Nick reached the hospital more than an hour ahead of the rest of the team. The waiting room was nearly empty except for the five CSI's and the two detectives. While they were waiting Archie called D. B. with the information he had requested. Much to everyone's surprise, Brady Magnus was wanted for the murder of his wife Emily and two month old son, Nicholas. After being expelled from college, Brady and Emily ran off and got married. All these years Emily had been feeding lies to Brady about what went on between Nick and her until last year Brady had a break down and was committed to a mental hospital. When he had gotten out and found out that Emily had named his son after the man he thought had caused all of their problems, he completely lost it and killed them both.

Still reeling from this shocking news two hours later, they finally saw the nurse point them out to the doctor that had come from the trauma area.

"Hello, I'm Dr. Windom; I'm taking care of your friend." The doctor shook hands with all of them before he continued. "Mr. Stokes is stable, but he isn't out of the woods yet. He has sustained a Grade 3 concussion, three broken ribs, a broken foot, broken knee cap, ruptured spleen, broken orbital socket, fractured ulna, bruised kidney and a tear in his liver. He also suffered from oxygen deprivation due to manual strangulation. With that being said, these injuries would likely have killed most people hours ago. But your friend has an uncanny will to live. Like I said, he isn't out of the woods yet, and I don't know how long his will to live can sustain him. But for the moment, he is stable." The doctor waited to let the group before him take this all in.

"Can we see him?" D. B. quietly asked after taking a few moments to check his emotions.

"Just one at a time and only for a few minutes each. Keep in mind, he is in a great deal of pain, and with the severe concussion he can't be given any heavy duty pain medication yet. He has quite a few tubes and wires to monitor him, help him breath and an array of other things to try to keep him alive. So it isn't a pretty picture." With that, the doctor went to the nurses' station and gave her instructions before letting them in to see Nick.

With nobody volunteering to go first, D. B. took the first visit. Even with the warning from the doctor, D. B. was taken aback with what he saw. Between bandages, bruises, tubes and wires it was almost difficult to see Nick. As he walked up to Nick's bed D. B. realized that he was the one that recommended that Nick meet up with this monster. "I'm so sorry Nick. I should have had him checked out before I ever recommended you see him. I hope you can forgive me someday." wiping the tears that threatened to fall as he left the room.

Sarah went in next. She gasped at the sight before her. Remembering all the times they had nearly lost Nick in the past dimmed by comparison. Even after being buried, nearly suffocating and being chewed on by fire ants Nick looked more alive than he did right now. "We're here for you no matter what Nicky." was all Sarah could choke out before practically running from the room.

Greg dreaded what he would see having seen Russell and Sarah react the way they did. But he wanted to be there for his friend, his big brother. He hesitantly inched his way to Nick's bed side. Staring at the bruises and seeing Nicks face contort with the pain he was in, Greg had a momentary flashback to when he himself was beaten. It doesn't even compare. Greg thought to himself. "Fight as long as you can Nick. We'll help however we can buddy." Greg too, wiped unshed tears from his eyes as he left the room.

Morgan went in next, as the others there was a moment of shock and horror. She walked closer to the bed and whispered to Nick. "My dad says you're a fighter if ever there was one, prove him right Nick. Please!" She begged before bolting form the room.

Brass and Vartan each took their turn, both reminding Nick that they got the son of a bitch that did this so he better get well fast so Nick could see him hauled away to room with Nigel Crane.

Being the newest member of the team, Fin didn't know Nick to well yet. She had heard that he had some close calls but didn't know the details. It was the most awkward for her to see Nick. But she knew she had to, just in case. "Nick, I know you have had more than your share of events. And I don't know what they are. But, D. B. thinks very highly of you. And I know he is an excellent judge of character. So please, fight the good fight so I can have the honor of getting to know you like the rest of the team." With that Fin quietly slipped out of the room to join the others.

By morning the rest of grave had stopped in to see Nick and get updates, not that there were any updates to give. Nick was still unconscious and near death. With no new information Brass and Vartan headed over to the psych ward to see if they could get anything out of Magnus. To their surprise, Brady had come out of his catatonic state long enough to hang himself while everybody was keeping vigil on Nick.

Giving the news to the team when they got back to ICU where Nick had been moved during the night. And they continued to wait taking turns for the next two days. Though Russell stayed the entire time, letting the rest of the team think that he had left at some point while they were gone. With all the worrying going on for Nick, it was an easy untruth to pull off, with the exception being Fin.

"D. B. you need to get some sleep and you could really use a shower man. You're kind of ripe." Fin prodded. Russell waved her off. "Your wife is worried, you haven't called her yet." This got Russell's attention.

"You're right! I was so caught up that I didn't call home. My battery went dead a couple of days ago." Russell jumped to his feet trying to think what to do next.

"I explained to her about Nick. She'll be here in about half an hour with a change of clothes for you. You're going to go get cleaned up and get something to eat though. I know you won't get any sleep, so I won't even ask." The two had a falling out in the past, but that didn't mean that Fin didn't know how D. B. worked.

Half an hour later Mary Russell and Brass arrived. Fin, Mary and D. B. left to get D. B. cleaned up while Brass took over the vigil. Half an hour after that Nick began to stir. Groaning at first, then his eyes began to flutter open a little. Brass pushed the call button to summon the nurse, who immediately went to track down Dr. Windom.

Nick tried to speak but his throat was dry and the attempt caused him to cough. Brass gave him a couple of ice chips to sooth his throat. "What… hap…pened?" Was all he could get out.

"Do you remember Brady Magnus coming to town?" Brass began. Nick nodded slightly, grimacing as he did. "He got you out to a shack in the middle of nowhere and beat the crap out of you. Do you remember any of it?" Brass tried to ease into the attack.

"Some." Nick croaked. "Kicked…. Stomped…. Choked… It hurts, bad." With that Nick drifted off to sleep with a grimace still on his face.

The doctor arrived a few minutes later and Brass filled him in on Nick remembering some of the attack. "That's good news indeed. With him being conscious, we can start him on some heavier pain medication. I'll go put the order in right now." And the doctor rushed off to get the medication started as quickly as possible. Still amazed that his patient was making progress, let alone was still alive.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

A few days later Nick was sitting up in bed with a lot less tubes and wires, though he was still on oxygen and pain medication. He was slowly beginning to remember the attack in bits and pieces. He remembered that Brady had set him up in order to get him to drive out to the shack. And he remembered some of the things that were said. The actual attack however, was just a blur of darkness and pain.

"I can't believe that she would lie and tell him I raped her. And I really can't fathom that he would believe that I could do that. We were close, really close. How could our friendship have been so, fake?" Nick was brooding with Greg not being able to give him any answers yet. They had decided to wait a while before they told Nick about Brady killing Emily and their infant son, and why he did it, as well as Brady's hospitalization. But Nick was getting better and today was the day the doctor felt he would be physically strong enough to hear the news.

Russell had volunteered to break the news to Nick. He was still feeling guilty for not checking Brady Magnus out before he let Nick meet him alone. D. B. arrived just as Nick was getting ready to try to pry information out of Greg. "Hey guys. How are you doing Nick?" Russell inquired, giving Greg a subtle nod as he came in to indicate he was there to fill Nick in.

Greg dismissed himself to go get a cup of coffee while D. B. took Greg's place in the hard plastic chair. Nick was out of intensive care and due to the number of visitors he received, the hospital put him in a private room.

"Nick, I understand you've had some questions. I think I can answer most if not all of them for you. But first, I want you to know how sorry I am that I didn't check this guy out before I recommended that you meet with him."

"Don't blame yourself Russell. I don't think anything you would have found would have given an indication of what he would do." Nick tried to reassure his supervisor.

"On the contrary Nick. It would have made all the difference in the world." And with that D. B. explained all the information they had attained on Brady Magnus and his family.

Nick was left speechless. Had Brady's mental instability been the reason he turned on Nick in college? Or had Emily's toying with his emotions been the cause of it? Nick figured he would never know. "Has anybody called his parents?" Nick finally asked.

"It looks like the death of his parents was what triggered his initial mental break. They were killed in a home invasion. He was the one that found them." Russell could see that Nick was trying to figure out if there was anything he could have done different. "Look, Nick, there was nothing you could have done to prevent any of this. He was your friend at one time and you took him at his word, as a friend should, that he had put the past behind him. And if his mental state wasn't already skewed, he probably would have put it behind him. But this Emily woman used his anger against him and drove him to where he was."

"I didn't trust my instincts. I had a bad feeling about the situation when he first showed up, but I dismissed it. I thought I was just holding a grudge or something. What does that say about me as a CSI?" Nick questioned with a pained look.

"It has nothing to do with being a CSI Nick; it has to do with trying to be a good friend. And if you haven't realized it yet, you are one hell of a friend. I know you couldn't have seen it, but the ER and intensive care units looked like a walk through wedding chapel while you were there. Hell, even the cleaning staff stopped by to check on you."

This caught Nick by surprise. "They did?" He wasn't quite sure what to make of that news.

"Yes Nick, they did. I think it's because of how good of a friend that you are that made me not check Brady Magnus out when you told me about him. There's nothing wrong with your instincts Nick, its other people's definition of friendship that is messed up. And as far as being a CSI, it's those same qualities that make you a damn good CSI. The intuition that you use on a case is just as important as any skills learned from a textbook. Don't forget that, okay?" Russell patted Nick on his good leg.

"Thanks Boss." Nick yawned. "I think I'm past due for a nap though." And with that Nick drifted off into the most restful sleep he'd had in several weeks.

The End

Authors note:

I own nothing but the OC's, I hope you enjoyed the story!


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